Health Information Privacy

blog

Dementia Rates, Deepfakes, Migrant Students: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the decline of dementia rates among Americans, the dangers of deepfakes, data privacy after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and more.

commentary

Privacy Rights Have Changed. Will Data Handling Follow?

Until privacy protection laws are cemented into place, consumer privacy won't be assured unless consumers can effectively take the steps they need to take to protect their data. Tech companies might view this as a burden, but there will likely be profits for those companies that instead see it as an opportunity.

Mary Lee @MaryLee_PhD

commentary

Telemedicine Abortion? It's Not as Easy as It Sounds

The Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has providers and health advocates strategizing about how to provide more abortions where it is still legal. Expanding virtual medical visits is one popular idea. Policymakers and clinics could take steps to make telemedicine better understood, easier to use, and more equitable.

Zachary Predmore @zspredmore, Julia Rollison @Julia_Rollison

commentary

When IT Meets Medical Innovation: Regulatory and Policy Challenges for Software as a Medical Device

The demand for using software to improve health care, including software as a medical device (SaMD), is on the rise. Realizing the potential benefits of the growing demand for SaMD may require clearer and more-consistent regulation of patient safety and medical effectiveness.

Zuzanna Marciniak-Nuqui, Nick Fahy, et al.

blog

Media Literacy, Internet of Bodies, Arctic Governance: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on teaching media literacy in schools, a “connected future” via the Internet of Bodies, gaps in Arctic governance, and more.

blog

Prescription Drug Prices, Transgender Troops, Space Diplomacy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on America's high prescription drug prices, allowing transgender troops in the military, food insecurity in Black neighborhoods, and more.

commentary

Now Could Be the Time to Form Policy for Emerging Brain- and Body-Enhancement Technologies

Policymakers might consider developing appropriate policy frameworks for emerging brain- and body-enhancement technologies to ensure that innovations harnessed for societal, economic, or military benefits do not create new vulnerabilities and that governments adequately defend and manage against potential attacks. The technology is quickly moving forward. Policy may need to play catch-up.

Mary Lee @MaryLee_PhD, Timothy Marler, et al.

essay

Are We Ready for the Internet of Bodies?

Any device can be hacked, including one inside the human body. We need to think through the privacy and security implications of devices that live with us. But we should also consider the life-changing, life-saving potential of technologies that know us inside and out.

commentary

Mobile Health Surveillance Is Here to Stay, So How Do We Protect Privacy?

Mobile phone surveillance can augment public health interventions to manage COVID-19 and might help countries prepare for the next outbreak. But these programs collect sensitive health and behavior data. That raises significant risks to personal privacy and civil liberties.

Benjamin Boudreaux

blog

China in 2050, Using Mobile Tools to Track COVID-19, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the future of U.S.-China competition, privacy concerns surrounding mobile tools used to track COVID-19, how telemedicine can help patients access specialized care, and more.

blog

What Happens When States Reopen, Truth Decay, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the health and economic consequences of states reopening, the dangers of Truth Decay during the coronavirus crisis, helping refugees, and more.

commentary

Should Communities Be Concerned About Digital Technologies to Fight COVID-19?

Personal smart devices offer an unprecedented opportunity to identify, track, map, and communicate about COVID-19. But apps could pose privacy and security concerns.

Abbie Tingstad, Shira H. Fischer @ShiraFischer, et al.

q&a

The Promise and Perils of AI: Q&A with Douglas Yeung

Douglas Yeung, a social psychologist at RAND, discusses how any technology reflects the values, norms, and biases of its creators. Bias in artificial intelligence could have unintended consequences. He also warns that cyber attackers could deliberately introduce bias into AI systems.

commentary

Biology, in the Language of the People

As technology and the ability to gather ever-growing amounts of data move further into the realms of biology and human performance, communication and transparency become increasingly important. Experts should consider whether they are using the words, examples, and models that connect with a broad audience most effectively.

Timothy Marler, Dona Odell

commentary

Intentional Bias Is Another Way Artificial Intelligence Could Hurt Us

Conversations about unconscious bias in artificial intelligence often focus on algorithms unintentionally causing disproportionate harm to entire swaths of society. But the problem could run much deeper. Society should be on guard for the possibility that nefarious actors could deliberately introduce bias into AI systems.

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

commentary

The Perils of Connecting Our Bodies to the Internet

High-tech health care solutions are part of an emerging sector of medical technologies that monitor personal health data by essentially connecting your body to the Internet. As smart devices in health care evolve, the line between human and machine is blurring, and creating new concerns about consumer safety and privacy rights.

Mary Lee @MaryLee_PhD

commentary

How Smartphone Apps Could Help Keep Health Records Accurate

Electronic health records have helped streamline record keeping but providers aren't always able to reliably pull together records for the same patient from different hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. The growing use of smartphones offers a promising opportunity to improve record matching.

Ben Moscovitch, Robert S. Rudin @rsrudin

commentary

Keeping Artificial Intelligence Accountable to Humans

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are often only as intelligent and fair as the data used to train them. To enable AI that frees humans from bias instead of reinforcing it, experts and regulators must think more deeply not only about what AI can do, but what it should do—and then teach it how.

Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba

commentary

The WannaCry Cyber Attack Could Be the First of Many If the NHS Takes No Action

In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) was one of the organizations most severely affected by the WannaCry ransomware. The NHS and other public sector organizations need to improve their cybersecurity processes and quickly before a more severe cyber attack takes place.

Erik Silfversten

commentary

Using Digital Data in Criminal Investigations: Where and How to Draw the Line?

Personal devices such as smartphones and wearables gather and store personal data. How much of this "digital footprint" should be available for criminal investigations?

Brian A. Jackson

commentary

Reining in Internet Abuse

The internet is being used for harmful, unethical, and illegal purposes. Examples include incitement and recruitment by terrorists, cyber bullying, and malicious fake news. Americans say they are unhappy with the tone of the online discourse, but are reluctant to consider potential remedies.

James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins

commentary

Digital Theft: The New Normal

Absolute data breach prevention is not possible, so knowing what people want when it happens is important. Consumers and corporations alike should accept this risk as a “when,” not an “if,” and prepare for it.

Lillian Ablon, Kathryn Kuznitsky

commentary

Privacy Preferences for Healthcare Records and Information Across Europe

The general public has a more nuanced preference for the privacy of electronic health records than previously thought. Survey respondents said that they would not be averse to individuals involved in the health and rescue professions having access to their basic health information.

Catherine L. Saunders, Sunil Patil

commentary

A Unique Identifier Could Protect Patient Privacy

The policy debate about unique patient identifier numbers should determine the best approach for reconciling two goals: optimizing the privacy and security of health information and making record matching as close to perfect as is practical.

Michael D. Greenberg

commentary

U.S. Needs a New Electronic Identity-Protection Strategy to Prevent 'Hybrid Warfare' Attacks

The U.S. government needs to develop a strategy to protect its citizens that includes a unique identifying number or code and a method for protecting these identity keys in online transactions.

Daniel Gonzales @gonzadan

commentary

After a Year of Major Hacks, 2015 Resolutions to Bolster Cyber Security

With numerous data breaches and emerging software vulnerabilities, 2014 was the year the hack went viral. But realizing a few New Year's resolutions in 2015 could help defenders make strides in protection, tools, and techniques to gain the edge over cyber attackers in years to come.

Lillian Ablon

commentary

After NSA Spying Revelations, US Must Reform Rules on Secrecy and Data

The U.S. should make two key reforms. First, the over-designation of material as classified makes it is harder to protect the few real secrets; this must be change. Second, the FISA court must become a gatekeeper for NSA access to communications data.

Gregory F. Treverton

commentary

The Cracks in Data Privacy

For almost 15 years, Europe has led the world in protecting personal data. At the EU level, it has done this through the data-protection directive adopted in 1995. But surveys such as one carried out by Eurobarometer last year illustrate that Europeans now feel insufficiently protected, write Lorenzo Valeri and Neil Robinson.

Lorenzo Valeri, Neil Robinson

commentary

Creating Health ID Numbers Could Improve Patient Privacy

As it considers ways to improve the efficiency and quality of U.S. health care, one issue that a new Congress should reconsider is the longstanding roadblock that has stalled efforts to create a system of unique patient identification numbers for every person in the United States, writes Richard Hillestad.

Richard Hillestad

commentary

RFID Security in the Workplace: Perk or Privacy?

RFID Security in the Workplace: Perk or Privacy?, in the Security World International.

Gordon Bitko, Tora K. Bikson, et al.

commentary

And Now, the Good Side of Facial Profiling

Published commentary by RAND staff.

John D. Woodward